Two Brothers
by Fallen Crest
Summary: What if Natsu always knew about END and being Zeref's brother? In the aftermath of the dragons attacking, Natsu seeks out Zeref to set the record straight about their history.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail **

**A/N: What if Natsu knew all along about Zeref being his brother and that he was an END? **

**Two Brothers **

The night of the dragons was finally over. That didn't mean anything though. Not to Natsu as he stood on the cliff overlooking Crocus. They had won the fight, but the city was demolished. Buildings destroyed, some still falling apart as they were left unstable from the fight. Roads cracked and smashed into smithereens. All because of the Eclipse System being used to bring dragons to the present. All of this was the fault of–

"That was masterfully done, Natsu."

The pink haired mage didn't even flinch at the sound of that familiar voice. He came here purposefully to find the owner of it after all. Rising to his feet, Natsu turned to face the black haired wizard, who was smiling pleasantly at him. "Zeref. I knew I sensed your magic in the area."

Still smiling, Zeref walked forward to be closer to the edge of the cliff so he could overlook the city. "Is that why you are out here instead of celebrating at the party with the rest of the guilds? I must admit, I feel honored that you would choose me over them."

"Unfortunately for you, I haven't chosen you over them. I only came here to set the record straight." Natsu snarled, turning fully to face the dark mage. Hearing the biting tone in his brother's voice, Zeref also turned so the two were facing each other.

Seeing the determined anger shining in those black eyes had the peaceful smile melting away from Zeref's eyes. He hadn't done much to Natsu or his friends to invite such anger. In fact, the only time he has seen them was on Tenrou Island seven years ago. Unless…."You know, don't you?"

"That I'm your younger brother?" Natsu took a step closer to Zeref. "That I died as a child?" Another step. "That you brought me back to life as your strongest demon?" Another step. "As END?" Another step and the two brothers were nose to nose, angry black eyes staring into shocked black eyes. "Yeah, I know all about it, Zeref. I never forgot."

"But, on Tenrou Island," Zeref said confused.

Natsu scoffed, turning his head away to admire the towering castle. "Did you honestly believe I would acknowledge any of this in front of them?"

Zeref turned his attention to the castle, understanding that Natsu was referring to his guild. His human guild. His friends who had suffered so much at all of Zeref's creations. "So they don't know the truth about you? When they find out, are you afraid they will abandon you? That they will want to kill you?"

"When?" Natsu hissed, heard whipping back around to turn a frosty glare onto Zeref. "There is no when. I will not allow them to learn the truth."

An amused huff escaped Zeref before his eyes turned cold and all amusement was loss. "So desperate you are to hide your true self from them. Unfortunately for you, it isn't going to work out in your favor. Consider this a little present from your big brother, Tartaros is on the move once more."

That sentence alone had Natsu's muscle freezing in place, anger dropping from his eyes to be replaced with fear. "That's….impossible." He whispered, shaking his head in disbelief. "I destroyed them all. There is no way they could be back."

"You and I both know, that destroying the members of Tartaros isn't that easy. To wipe them out completely, you need to destroy their book, and yet, you didn't, despite knowing that. Anything that happens from this point on is your fault, Natsu." Zeref retorted harshly.

Before Natsu's very eyes, Crocus and Zeref disappeared. All he could see was a town on a fire with screams of fear and pain filling his ears. In front of him was a child crying out desperately for his father not to leave him. But underneath all that, he could hear the mocking laughter from the demons causing all the destruction around him.

All the destruction that he let happen.

"No….we both know that this all started before Tartaros, Zeref," Natsu retorted, shaking himself out of the memory. "Deliora, the R-System, Eclipse, Tartaros. We are both to blame for all of it, all of the destruction and death that everything you created caused." Meeting Zeref's eyes once more, Natsu took another step forward, getting right in his brother's face. "That is why I came here. To tell you, I'm not running anymore."

"Running?" Zeref questioned confused.

"I may have kept the truth from my guild, but I was also trying to forget. I didn't want to remember that we were brothers or that _you_ made me a demon! It's why I never sought you out to accomplish the one goal you ingrained in my very soul. The thing that torments me every day. The thing that is burning my blood every time you are near me. I can feel my blood on fire right now as it screams at me to complete the mission you ingrained in me to kill you." Natsu snarled, annoyance rising in him at the surprise that filtered in Zeref. How could his brother not know how much this mission burned him every day? "You really don't know what it feels like to have this unnatural desire torment you every day? You may suffer from immortality and have to stay separated from every one unless you kill them, but me? I have to live with the fact that my only blood relative left revived me just to kill him. I still remember our days as children, Zeref. I remember how great of a brother you were to me, and to have it ingrained in my very DNA to kill my own brother was never something I could accept. Why do you think I avoided you? Why do you think I created Tartaros? It was all to keep the demons away from you and to give me something to keep me distracted from my urge to kill you."

From angry to desperation. Zeref stared into those desperate eyes of his brother that were just screaming at him to understand him. "But how many people died at your hands? At Tartaros's hands, Natsu? To ignore your urge to kill me, you killed so many innocent people as their master."

"I KNOW THAT!" Natsu roared so loudly that it forced Zeref to take a step back. His voice drop several notches, weariness pulling at his voice. "I know what I've done! We have both done too much to ask for forgiveness."

A loud BOOM shot through the air, lighting up the sky. Neither Zeref nor Natsu took their eyes off of each other as more and more fireworks lit up the night sky. No doubt the party in the castle was in full swing by now. Natsu was sure he would be missed, but he wasn't about to leave this cliff just yet. He needed Zeref to understand.

"I thought I could fight my desire to kill you by killing others. Or perhaps that is the demon inside me talking. I don't even remember what it feels like to be human anymore. It is why killing all those people was so easy for me." Natsu admitted, but still his brother showed no understanding, only disgust. Zeref always valued life. It was the reason why Ankhseram's curse was so tough for him. "With the members of Tartaros behind me, we tormented towns, killing people, laughing at their pain and suffering. But through it all, I felt like I was missing something. The longer I was master for Tartaros, the more I felt this empty void in me growing and getting more and more painful. And I thought to myself, is my desire to kill my brother getting stronger? Do I need to kill more people to satisfy this intense burning feeling? Will it make me feel better? I don't want to kill my brother."

"But then one day, while in a village, I saw a man shielding his son from one of my attacks. He was no wizard. He had no means to stop my attack, except with his body. As he laid there dying, the child kneeled over his body, crying and screaming for his father not to leave him alone. The father, using the last of his strength, stroked his son's face and told him, 'I love you, Alan. Please escape.' With tears streaming down his face, knees shaking from fear, this kid picked up a nearby stick and stood in defense over his dying father. Though scared and knowing he was completely outmatched, this child stared me down with hatred and declared he would protect everything that mattered to him."

Not at all sure where this story was going, but intrigued by it nonetheless, Zeref asked, "Did you kill that child?"

For the first time this whole conversation, an amused smirk crossed Natsu's face as he turned to look at the castle once more. "No, he lived to tell the tale of how he faced down Master END and survived. Though I never heard the story so I guess it got loss over the centuries. But I do know his family name has lived on for a long time, as has his bravery and recklessness. The Dreyar line has always been one of courageous fools."

For a brief moment, shock ran through Zeref's blood. Dreyar? This was simply too much. "Is that why…."

"I joined Fairy Tail?" Natsu finished. "Yeah, I admired that foolish bravery from that kid and I saw it in Master and Fairy Tail. But that wasn't the only reason." Turning back to his brother, Natsu frowned, amusement being washed away. "That kid and his father showed me that humans did not only feel fear and pain. There was love, hatred, bravery, foolishness, a desire to protect. Me? All I could remember is wanting destruction. When you brought me back, I forgot what it felt like to be human. And then I saw it in that child, the thing that was hurting me all those years. I may not be human anymore, but unlike all your other demons, I was human once before and it made me realize that the desperate longing I had was to be human again. I disbanded Tartaros, sealed all your demons away back into their books or whatever inanimate object they came from, and then I sealed my own powers away. Sealing END reverted me back to a child, but luckily for me, Igneel found me and he took me in. He trained me and I focused all my attention on trying to forget what I am. Because I don't want to be known as END."

As Natsu tilted his head down, Zeref turned his attention to the ground to see droplets of water hitting the ground. He knew none of this. All these centuries all he wanted was to see his brother again, but could never find him. He knew about Tartaros, but was never able to get close to them before they disappeared again. Was it because of his brother keeping them away from him? Did Natsu find it that painful to be near him?

"All these years,"

Zeref snapped his head up to see Natsu was looking back at him, tears trailing down his face.

"All I ever wanted was to remember what it was like being human. When Igneel left me, I took that chance. I found Fairy Tail and I joined them because I wanted to have fun with everyone. I wanted to be able to argue and fight with my friends and fight alongside them with the idea of protection, instead of killing. To laugh, to cry, to be scared, to be proud of my guild, to feel pain and sorrow with them…..I just wanted to be human….to know what it felt like again….."

"Natsu," Zeref started.

The fire mage shook his head. Closing his eyes, Natsu tilted his head back to face the sky as he worked on getting his emotions under control. This was not the time for tears. Rubbing the traces of any crying away, Natsu brought his eyes back towards his older brother. "But it can't go on, Zeref. We have both done too many horrible things. So one day, Zeref, we will both pay for everything we've done. All of our sins will be repaid in our blood."

**A/N: I do know that Natsu was never actually the master of Tartaros. This is just a fun little idea I had if Natsu was once the master of Tartaros and remembered that he was a demon. It was originally going to be a story, but I probably will never get to it with being busy in life and all that. Plus I'm not completely sure of how I would want the story to go. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this at least!**


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